Microsoft Store

The Microsoft Store now supports automatic app updates. You can choose whether those happen only when connected to a Wi-Fi network, or cellular data is allowed as well. Check for updates button is available, but now the Store checks for available updates quite a few times a day, so you'll probably won't need to use this key regularly. In previous versions of Windows Phone the Store was really slow on checking for updates - some notifications came weeks after the new version of the app has been seeded! It's great Microsoft fixed that too.

The automatic updates settings in Store • apps updates automatically

We've already mentioned the Windows Store has grown bigger over the years, but it is still behind the Apple's and Google's repositories. We were curious how many of today's most popular Android and iOS apps are available on Windows Phone. We've searched for the top 25 free and paid apps from the AppStore and Play Store in the Windows Phone Store, and here is what we have found. Note that platform specific apps such as NOVA Launcher, Titanium Backup, Swift/Swype keyboards (available in WP8.1 by default), Office Suite Pro 7 (MS Office available for free), and widget packages were not included in those lists.

Available (as of April 22, 2014)

Missing (as of April 22, 2014)

A Dark Room

The Amazing SpiderMan 2 (coming soon)

Bloons TD 5

Survivalcraft

The Game of Life

NBA JAM

GTA: San Andreas

2048

Instagram

Facebook

Facebook Messenger

Pandora

Frozen Free Fall

Spotify

Skype

Kik Messenger

Modern Combat 4

TuneIn Radio

Quizduell

Angry Birds Rio

Monopoly

Flightradar24

Rayman Fiesta Run

Plants vs. Zombies

Viber

Subway Surfers

WhatsApps

Mt Talking Tom

Zombie Tsunami

Adobe Reader

Flishlight

Shazam

Cut The Rope 2

Goat Rampage

Minecraft Pocket Edition

Heads Up!

Afterlight

Hitman GO

Card Wars

The Survival

Plague Inc.

NBA 2K14

Papa's Freezeria

Unpossible

Union

Sleep Cycle Alarm

Terraria

RBI Baseball 14

Scribblenauts

Don't Tap The White Tile

Farmville 2

Swamp Attack

Club Penguin

Flappy Smash

Snapchat

Horn

Trials Frtontier

YouTube (requested removal by Google)

What's The Difference

Family Guy - The Quest for Stuff

Clash of Clans

Smash Hit

Pinterest

Power Amp

NFS: Most Wanted

Threema

Worms 2: Armageddon

Tasker

Business Calendar Pro

Retrica

Clean Master FX

Tennis 3D

Swap the Box

Candy Crush Saga

CarX Drift Racing

Final words

Windows Phone 8.1 is a huge step forward, one that Microsoft should really be proud of. The update brings so many new features that whenever we thought we've covered everything, something new popped up.

In its 8.1 iteration, WP is more beautiful than ever and has gained quite a few customization options - an area where the platform still has some catching up to do. It has finally gained a proper notification area, so it can feel on par with its rivals and a smart Cortana assistant for those looking for a more out-of-the-box experience.

The OS is definitely more mature and upgrades are to be spotted all over the place and yet it remains the familiar Windows Phone early adopters fell in love with. You still get a snappy and easy to use, and very social, platform. It is easily recognizable too, thanks to the Tiled interface we're already used to in Xbox and Windows, but now much more powerful.

Windows Phone 8.1 has the simplicity of iOS, and some of the Android flexibility, and while it's unable to beat either of those platforms at their own game it sits comfortably in between, arguably being second best in both aspects. This would mean that for many WP is the most balanced platform out there and that's quite a great position to be in.

Of course, looking at the bigger picture, there's more than the platform itself. An equally important factor for judging an ecosystem is the number and quality of available apps and that's where Microsoft needs to up its game. Still, with the user experience on par, some quality hardware at competitive price points should get the user base growing and that's all the developers really care about. We'll call WP 8.1 a job well done, then!